ESPN Has Best Audience Ever In '10; Speed, Versus, Golf Channel Down

ESPN and ESPN2 both set viewership records for the second straight
year in '10. ESPN set viewership records in each of the four quarters last year
on a 24-hour basis, with Q4 marking the net's most-viewed quarter ever. The
net's 1.083 million viewers on a 24-hour basis was up 7.9% from last year and
up 15.6% from '08. ESPN also set new viewership records in primetime, with its
2.4 million viewers up 4.2% from last year. NFL Network saw its 24-hour viewership
average top 100,000 viewers for the first time last year, while its primetime
average jumped 15.7%. Fox Soccer Channel also saw gains in both primetime and
on a 24-hour basis. Nets seeing declines last year included Speed, Versus
and Golf Channel. On a 24-hour basis, Versus saw its viewership dip below an
average of 100,000 viewers for the first time since '07, while its primetime
average was down 9.1%.

TOTAL-DAY VIEWERSHIP

NET

'10 (000)

'09 (000)

'08 (000)

'07 (000)

ESPN

1,083

1,004

937

869

ESPN2

337

334

325

330

Speed

138

160

150

129

NFL Network

114

97

80

82

Versus

98

120

107

89

Golf Channel

71

88

77

76

ESPNews

64

64

66

70

NBA TV^

51

n/a

n/a

n/a

MLB Network*

41

n/a

n/a

n/a

Fox Soccer Channel**

28

25

67

n/a

PRIMETIME VIEWERSHIP

NET

'10 (000)

'09 (000)

'08 (000)

'07 (000)

ESPN

2,400

2,303

2,122

1,952

ESPN2

634

693

641

657

Versus

279

307

278

225

NFL Network

258

223

175

196

Speed

228

280

273

240

NBA TV^

131

n/a

n/a

n/a

Golf Channel

119

147

131

137

MLB Network*

95

n/a

n/a

n/a

ESPNews

87

84

86

89

Fox Soccer Channel**

39

37

70

n/a

NOTES: Measurement for all nets in '10 is from Dec, 28, 2009
through Dec. 26, 2010. Full-year '09 is from Dec. 29, 2008 through Dec. 27,
2009. Full-year '08 is measured from Dec. 31, 2007 through Dec. 28, 2008. Full-year
'07 is measured from Jan. 1, 2007 through Dec. 30, 2007. Total-day is defined
as 6:00am-6:00am, while primetime is 8:00-11:00pm. ^ = NBA TV became a Nielsen-rated
network at the beginning of November. * = MLB Network became a Nielsen-rated
network in May. ** = Fox Soccer Channel first became a Nielsen-rated network
in October '08.